Back to EveryPatent.com
United States Patent | 5,642,227 |
Rallison | June 24, 1997 |
The present invention eliminates the relay lens systems found in conventional helmet mounted displays (HMDs) by removing field distortions and aberrations with a contoured fiber optic faceplate placed in close proximity to a liquid crystal display (LCD) or cathode ray tube. The optical system typically consists of a spherical dielectric or holographically made collimator - combiner, a dielectric or holographically made fold mirror, and a contoured fiber optic faceplate. The fold mirror is flat, and the collimator - combiner is made by coating a spherical eye glass blank. The system is configured as a folded and tilted catadioptric projector with the novel feature being the contoured faceplate. There are no dispersive elements in the imaging assembly which means it can be completely polychromatic (full color) without the need for additional color correction optics as found in all refractive color systems. When designed for full color, highest brightness, and see through capability it must be made with two or three narrow spectral and angular sensitive coatings on the fold mirror and on the collimator - combiner. These coatings allow the use of a tilt of the collimator - combiner with respect to the fold mirror which induces a small amount of astigmatism and keystone distortion but at the same time allows image light to pass through the folded optics to the eye with a minimum of loss. The elimination of a corrective refractive lens relay system makes this design polychromatic, less expensive, and lighter in weight, compared to a similar system with an achromatized and corrected refractive lens.
Inventors: | Rallison; Richard Dennis (Paradise, UT) |
Assignee: | Virtual I/O, Inc. (Seattle, WA) |
Appl. No.: | 468050 |
Filed: | June 6, 1995 |
Current U.S. Class: | 359/631; 359/630; 359/633 |
Intern'l Class: | G02B 027/14 |
Field of Search: | 359/630,631,629,633 348/359 358/484 |
D300476 | Mar., 1989 | Sestak | D29/18. |
D301644 | Jun., 1989 | Sestak | D29/18. |
D334557 | Apr., 1993 | Hunter et al. | D14/114. |
D334742 | Apr., 1993 | Hunter et al. | D14/113. |
D337320 | Jul., 1993 | Hunter et al. | D14/113. |
D338514 | Aug., 1993 | Holmes | D21/240. |
2955156 | Oct., 1960 | Heilig | 178/6. |
2958258 | Nov., 1960 | Kelly | 88/24. |
3043910 | Jul., 1962 | Hicks | 178/7. |
3589795 | Jun., 1971 | Miyazaki et al. | 350/96. |
3614314 | Oct., 1971 | Rossire | 178/7. |
3874783 | Apr., 1975 | Cole | 350/96. |
3915548 | Oct., 1975 | Opittek et al. | 350/3. |
3923370 | Dec., 1975 | Mostrom | 350/55. |
3940204 | Feb., 1976 | Withrington | 350/3. |
3945721 | Mar., 1976 | Corcoran | 353/84. |
4026641 | May., 1977 | Bosserman et al. | 350/298. |
4028725 | Jun., 1977 | Lewis | 358/103. |
4042957 | Aug., 1977 | Ellis | 358/109. |
4048653 | Sep., 1977 | Spooner | 358/104. |
4257062 | Mar., 1981 | Meredith | 358/81. |
4269476 | May., 1981 | Gauthier et al. | 350/174. |
4310849 | Jan., 1982 | Glass | 358/88. |
4322135 | Mar., 1982 | Freeman | 350/410. |
4348185 | Sep., 1982 | Breglia et al. | 434/43. |
4361384 | Nov., 1982 | Bosserman | 350/174. |
4385803 | May., 1983 | Ellis | 350/174. |
4395731 | Jul., 1983 | Schoolman | 358/88. |
4398799 | Aug., 1983 | Swift | 350/174. |
4437113 | Mar., 1984 | Lee et al. | 358/93. |
4439157 | Mar., 1984 | Breglia et al. | 434/40. |
4446480 | May., 1984 | Breglia et al. | 358/104. |
4465347 | Aug., 1984 | Task et al. | 350/538. |
4468101 | Aug., 1984 | Ellis | 350/538. |
4550984 | Nov., 1985 | Reymond | 350/404. |
4559555 | Dec., 1985 | Schoolman | 358/88. |
4561723 | Dec., 1985 | Hamano et al. | 350/331. |
4571628 | Feb., 1986 | Thornton | 358/224. |
4636866 | Jan., 1987 | Hattori | 358/236. |
4641931 | Feb., 1987 | Loy | 350/538. |
4651201 | Mar., 1987 | Schoolman | 358/98. |
4652870 | Mar., 1987 | Steward | 340/705. |
4695129 | Sep., 1987 | Faessen et al. | 350/96. |
4706117 | Nov., 1987 | Schoolman | 358/88. |
4711512 | Dec., 1987 | Upatnieks | 350/3. |
4737972 | Apr., 1988 | Schoolman | 378/41. |
4743200 | May., 1988 | Welch et al. | 434/43. |
4753514 | Jun., 1988 | Kubik | 350/174. |
4757714 | Jul., 1988 | Purdy et al. | 73/597. |
4761056 | Aug., 1988 | Evans et al. | 350/174. |
4763990 | Aug., 1988 | Wood | 350/320. |
4775217 | Oct., 1988 | Ellis | 350/538. |
4786966 | Nov., 1988 | Hanson et al. | 358/108. |
4791300 | Dec., 1988 | Yin | 250/363. |
4796987 | Jan., 1989 | Linden | 351/158. |
4797736 | Jan., 1989 | Kloots et al. | 358/93. |
4799765 | Jan., 1989 | Ferrer | 350/174. |
4805988 | Feb., 1989 | Dones | 350/137. |
4806011 | Feb., 1989 | Bettinger | 351/158. |
4807202 | Feb., 1989 | Cherri et al. | 367/129. |
4821727 | Apr., 1989 | Levene | 128/653. |
4826287 | May., 1989 | Cook et al. | 350/174. |
4853764 | Aug., 1989 | Sutter | 358/3. |
4859030 | Aug., 1989 | Rotier | 350/174. |
4859031 | Aug., 1989 | Berman et al. | 350/174. |
4867551 | Sep., 1989 | Perera | 351/158. |
4869575 | Sep., 1989 | Kubik | 350/174. |
4871228 | Oct., 1989 | Roos | 385/116. |
4874214 | Oct., 1989 | Cheyason et al. | 350/3. |
4874235 | Oct., 1989 | Webster | 351/201. |
4884137 | Nov., 1989 | Hanson et al. | 358/108. |
4884219 | Nov., 1989 | Waldren | 364/514. |
4897715 | Jan., 1990 | Beamon | 358/93. |
4900133 | Feb., 1990 | Berman | 350/346. |
4902083 | Feb., 1990 | Wells | 350/6. |
4902116 | Feb., 1990 | Ellis | 350/501. |
4902120 | Feb., 1990 | Weyer | 351/158. |
4904049 | Feb., 1990 | Hegg | 350/96. |
4930888 | Jun., 1990 | Freisleben et al. | 356/152. |
4932731 | Jun., 1990 | Suzuki et al. | 350/3. |
4933755 | Jun., 1990 | Dahl et al. | 358/88. |
4934773 | Jun., 1990 | Becker | 350/6. |
4952024 | Aug., 1990 | Gale | 350/143. |
4961625 | Oct., 1990 | Wood et al. | 350/174. |
4961626 | Oct., 1990 | Fournier et al. | 350/174. |
4968123 | Nov., 1990 | Fournier et al. | 350/538. |
4969714 | Nov., 1990 | Fournier et al. | 353/174. |
4969724 | Nov., 1990 | Ellis | 350/503. |
4970589 | Nov., 1990 | Hanson et al. | 358/108. |
4982278 | Jan., 1991 | Dahl et al. | 358/88. |
4983014 | Jan., 1991 | Nattermann | 350/96. |
4984179 | Jan., 1991 | Waldern | 364/514. |
4993790 | Feb., 1991 | Vick | 350/3. |
4995165 | Feb., 1991 | Daniels | 33/361. |
5003300 | Mar., 1991 | Wells | 340/705. |
5005213 | Apr., 1991 | Hanson et al. | 455/617. |
5019828 | May., 1991 | Schoolman | 342/457. |
5034809 | Jul., 1991 | Katoh | 358/88. |
5035473 | Jul., 1991 | Kuwayama et al. | 350/3. |
5039198 | Aug., 1991 | VanBeek | 385/117. |
5046827 | Sep., 1991 | Frost et al. | 359/54. |
5050966 | Sep., 1991 | Berman | 359/38. |
5053755 | Oct., 1991 | Smith | 340/705. |
5081542 | Jan., 1992 | Efron et al. | 359/41. |
5089903 | Feb., 1992 | Kuwayama et al. | 359/15. |
5091719 | Feb., 1992 | Beamon | 340/705. |
5123726 | Jun., 1992 | Webster | 351/201. |
5124821 | Jun., 1992 | Antier et al. | 359/14. |
5129716 | Jul., 1992 | Holakovszky et al. | 351/50. |
5130794 | Jul., 1992 | Ritchey | 358/87. |
5138555 | Aug., 1992 | Albrecht | 364/424. |
5151722 | Sep., 1992 | Massof et al. | 351/158. |
5162828 | Nov., 1992 | Furness et al. | 353/122. |
5162928 | Nov., 1992 | Taniguchi et al. | 359/13. |
5164848 | Nov., 1992 | Firth et al. | 359/13. |
5166778 | Nov., 1992 | Beamon | 358/3. |
5170153 | Dec., 1992 | Migozzi et al. | 340/705. |
5181013 | Jan., 1993 | Bagshaw | 340/702. |
5184231 | Feb., 1993 | Ellis | 359/13. |
5189512 | Feb., 1993 | Cameron et al. | 358/93. |
5192960 | Mar., 1993 | Komamura | 351/41. |
5198928 | Mar., 1993 | Chauvin | 359/465. |
5200844 | Apr., 1993 | Suvada | 359/40. |
5231379 | Jul., 1993 | Wood et al. | 340/705. |
5255211 | Oct., 1993 | Redmond | 364/578. |
5274405 | Dec., 1993 | Webster | 351/158. |
5276471 | Jan., 1994 | Yamauchi et al. | 351/153. |
5278680 | Jan., 1994 | Karasawa et al. | 359/40. |
5281957 | Jan., 1994 | Schoolman | 345/8. |
5293271 | Mar., 1994 | Merritt et al. | 359/858. |
5300942 | Apr., 1994 | Dolgoff | 345/32. |
5303085 | Apr., 1994 | Rallison | 359/631. |
5305244 | Apr., 1994 | Newman et al. | 364/708. |
5309169 | May., 1994 | Lippert | 345/8. |
5320538 | Jun., 1994 | Baum | 434/307. |
5321416 | Jun., 1994 | Bassett et al. | 345/8. |
5322441 | Jun., 1994 | Lewis et al. | 434/307. |
5323174 | Jun., 1994 | Klapman et al. | 345/156. |
5327175 | Jul., 1994 | Kim | 348/526. |
5331149 | Jul., 1994 | Spitzer et al. | 250/221. |
5334991 | Aug., 1994 | Wells et al. | 345/8. |
5335299 | Aug., 1994 | Atkinson | 382/56. |
5347400 | Sep., 1994 | Hunter | 359/815. |
5353042 | Oct., 1994 | Klapman et al. | 345/156. |
5357372 | Oct., 1994 | Chen et al. | 359/637. |
5383053 | Jan., 1995 | Hegg et al. | 359/486. |
5392158 | Feb., 1995 | Tosaki | 359/633. |
5408346 | Apr., 1995 | Trissel et al. | 359/65. |
5451976 | Sep., 1995 | Ito | 345/8. |
Foreign Patent Documents | |||
91309108 | Oct., 1991 | EP. | |
2517916 | Jun., 1983 | FR | . |
3532730 | Mar., 1987 | DE | . |
3628458 | Feb., 1988 | DE | . |
4225589A1 | Feb., 1994 | DE | . |
59-117889 | Jul., 1984 | JP | . |
59-219092 | Dec., 1984 | JP | . |
62-272698 | Nov., 1987 | JP. | |
63-82192 | Apr., 1988 | JP. | |
63-177689 | Jul., 1988 | JP. | |
1-61723 | Mar., 1989 | JP. | |
5-46161 | Feb., 1993 | JP | . |
6-59217 | Mar., 1994 | JP | . |
2266385 | Oct., 1993 | GB | . |
2270775 | Mar., 1994 | GB | . |
2274727 | Aug., 1994 | GB | . |
2279201 | Dec., 1994 | GB | . |
2281846 | Mar., 1995 | GB | . |
2287551 | Sep., 1995 | GB | . |
84/01680 | Apr., 1984 | WO | . |
WO92/03756 | Mar., 1992 | WO | . |
93/23783 | Nov., 1993 | WO | . |
WO94/11855 | May., 1994 | WO | . |
WO94/14152 | Jun., 1994 | WO | . |
WO94/24658 | Oct., 1994 | WO | . |
WO95/10106 | Apr., 1995 | WO | . |
WO95/10061 | Apr., 1995 | WO | . |
Assenheim et al., "Large-Screen-Projection, Avionic, and Helmet-Mounted Displays", Proceedings, The International Society for Optical Engineering, Feb. 26-28, 1991, vol. 1456, pp. 179-190. Benton, "Practical Holography VIII", Proceedings, The International Society for Optical Engineering, Feb. 7-9, 1994, vol. 2176, pp. 241-248. Driscoll et al., Handbook of Optics, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1978, pp. 13-16. Fischer, "Fundamentals and Optics for Head Mounted Displays," Photonics West '95, Feb. 4-10, 1995. Rotier, "Optical Approaches to the Helmet Mounted Display", SPIE, 1989, vol. 1116, pp. 14-17. Sony, "Visortron" advertisement. "Survey of Head Mounted Displays", Real Time Graphics, Aug. 1994, vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 1, 8-12. Virtual I/O, Inc., "PDS Gamer.TM.", advertisement. VR News, Dec. 1994, vol. 3, Issue 10, pp. 4, 8, 12. "Airlines Weigh Benefits, Costs of At-Seat Video", Aviation Week & Space Technology, Aug. 15, 1994, pp. 44-45. Pope, "Say ahhh! Videos help you relax", The Times-Picayune, Oct. 25, 1994, pp. 1, A-6. Farmer, "The right solution to the right problem . . . now", Comdex Daily, Nov. 15, 1994, p. 4. Siggraph, Nikkei Electronics, Aug. 22, 1994, pp. 13-14. Virtual I/O, "i-glasses!", Twice CES Daily, Jan. 6, 1995, p. 30. Virtual I/O, Specifications, Virtual Reality World, Nov./Dec. 1994, p. 11. Virtual I/O, VR News, Aug./Sep. 1994, p. 17. Antonoff, "Real estate is cheap here, but the places you'd most want to visit are still under construction", Popular Science, Jun. 1993, pp. 83-86, 124-125. Burley, et al., "A full-color wide-field-of-view holographic helmet-mounted display for pilot/vehicle interface development and human factors studies", SPIE, vol. 1290 Helmet-Mounted Displays II (1990), pp. 9-15. Carr, "Is Virtual Reality Virtually Here?", Training & Development, Oct. 1992, pp. 37-41. Fisher et al., "Living in a Virtual World", BYTE, Jul. 1990, pp. 215-221. Horn, "Seeing the invisible", U.S. News & World Report, Jan. 28, 1991. James, "Goggles Brighten Dark Subway", The New York Times, Apr. 10, 1992. Jones et al., "Evaluation of conformal and body-axis attitude information for spatial awareness", SPIE, vol. 1695 Helmet-Mounted Displays III (1992), pp. 146-153. Starks, "Stereoscopic video and the quest for virtual reality: an annotated bibliography of selected topics", SPIE, vol. 1457 Stereoscopic Displays and Applications II (1991), pp. 327-343. Stewart, "Through the looking glass into an artificial world--via computer", Smithsonian, vol. 21, No. 10, Jan. 1991, pp. 36-45. Foley, "Interfaces for Advanced Computing", Scientific American, Oct. 1987, vol. 257, No. 4, pp. 126-135. Krueger, Artificial Reality II, 1991 Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., pp. 66-82, 102-116, 130-149, 179-182, 237-239, 267-279. Sutherland, "A head-mounted three dimensional display", Fall Joint Computer Conference, 1968, pp. 757-763. |